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His 1845 diplomatic mission to Mexico ultimately failed to avert war. Slidell later was elected to the Senate, then served as Confederate ambassador to France. His son-in-law named the city in St. Tammany Parish in his honor.

In late April of 1846, Mexican forces attacked a small patrol of American forces under the command of Louisiana resident Gen. Zachary Taylor, and within weeks war had been declared.

Taylor, of Baton Rouge, became a household name with his victories at Palo
Alto, Buena Vista and Monterrey. He was elected president in 1848.

News of the ambush on American forces reached
New Orleans by early May. The Picayune’s dispatches on the war,
many sent from the front lines by publisher George Kendall, were widely read across the country.

A diagram of the Battle of Palo Alto, published on June 21, 1846, was the first news art published in The Picayune.